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Overview

“Quick-witted and fast-paced, this debut mystery should be a hit with Gone Girl fans.” —People magazine

"This is an all-nighter . . . The best debut mystery I've read in a long time."— Tana French

“A really gutsy, clever, energetic read, often unexpected, always entertaining. I loved Janie Jenkins’s sassy voice and Elizabeth Little’s too. In the world of crime novels, Dear Daughter is a breath of fresh air.” — Kate Atkinson, New York Times bestselling author of Life After LifeA sensational debut thriller featuring an unforgettable heroine who just might have murdered her mother

Former “It Girl” Janie Jenkins is sly, stunning, and fresh out of prison. Ten years ago, at the height of her fame, she was incarcerated for the murder of her mother, a high-society beauty known for her good works and rich husbands. Now, released on a technicality, Janie makes herself over and goes undercover, determined to chase down the one lead she has on her mother’s killer. The only problem? Janie doesn’t know if she’s the killer she’s looking for.

Janie makes her way to an isolated South Dakota town whose mysteries rival her own. Enlisting the help of some new friends (and the town’s wary police chief), Janie follows a series of clues—an old photograph, an abandoned house, a forgotten diary—and begins to piece together her mother’s seemingly improbable connection to the town. When new evidence from Janie’s own past surfaces, she’s forced to consider the possibility that she and her mother were more alike than either of them would ever have imagined.

As she digs tantalizingly deeper, and as suspicious locals begin to see through her increasingly fragile facade, Janie discovers that even the sleepiest towns hide sinister secrets—and will stop at nothing to guard them. On the run from the press, the police, and maybe even a murderer, Janie must choose between the anonymity she craves and the truth she so desperately needs.

A gripping, electrifying debut novel with an ingenious and like-it-or-not sexy protagonist, Dear Daughter follows every twist and turn as Janie unravels the mystery of what happened the night her mother died—whatever the cost.

What People Are Saying

From the Publisher

“When former It Girl Janie Jenkins is released from prison, she embarks on a mission to discover if it was really she who murdered her mother. The debut novel’s twists will easily hook you, but it’s the narrator’s dark wit and sharp observations that make this a truly fun read.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“Little keeps you guessing until the end — and then closes her book with a final, twisted flourish.”—Daneet Steffens, The Boston Globe

“Engrossing. . . The unlikable protagonist with a biting personality and outrageous actions, but who is fascinating at the same time, has never been more popular. Just think of Gone Girl. In her confident fiction debut, Elizabeth Little puts a fresh spin on this character in the form of Jane Jenkins, a young woman famous for being famous until she was sent to prison for the murder of her wealthy socialite mother. Little also makes Dear Daughter a parable about the cult of the celebrity stoked by a relentless press and a ruthless public’s thirst for details of a woman it loves to hate.”—Associated Press

“This is not your mother’s mystery. The clever, prickly and profane heroine is, after all, a former It Girl whose aim as a teen was to be the next Paris Hilton, only better. . . . Sassy and lively. . . . The book’s satisfying conclusion somehow manages to tie things up while also providing a cliffhanger, a pretty neat trick for a debut novel.”—Colleen Kelly, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

“The best debut crime novel of 2014, a spiky, voicey, jolting, surprising story of a celebutante convicted of murdering her mother . . . Little also produces one of the best endings of 2014, too.” —Sarah Weinman, The National Post (Canada)

“A former It Girl hunts down her mom’s murderer in this can’t-put-down thriller.”—Cosmopolitan

“Do you want a mystery novel that you can stay up all night reading and then take to the beach to finish it off the next day? Elizabeth Little’s Dear Daughter is pretty much all you need: the tale of a former high society girl who gets out of prison and goes on a mission to find out who really killed her mother.” —Flavorwire (Must-Read Books for August)

“In prison for her mother’s murder, L.A. socialite Jane Jenkins is released on a technicality. To track down the real killer Jane gets plain, goes underground and stirs up dangerous amounts of dirt in her mom’s South Dakota hometown.”
—Good Housekeeping

“[A] fun and riveting debut mystery.” —The San Diego Union Tribune

“Part celebrity, part sleuth and all sass, the memorable Janie Jenkins is out to prove she didn't murder her mother in this smart debut thriller. . . . Little drives Dear Daughter with the string of surprises and buried secrets revealed as Janie unravels the mystery of her mother's past. It is a thriller much like Gillian Flynn's blockbuster Gone Girl—except instead of the East Coast literary angst of Flynn's protagonists stuck in Missouri, Little's Midwest visitor really does have L.A. ‘glitter in her veins.’” —Shelf Awareness

“Little makes a thrilling debut with this gripping read. Fans of Tana French and Gillian Flynn are going to enjoy the smart narrator and the twists and turns in the case.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“Stunning and chilling. . . . A harrowing story that will keep readers on the edge of their seat. The ending is like a punch in the nose, coming out of nowhere and leaving readers breathless. Whether you take this mystery to the beach or relax in front of your air conditioner, this is a novel you should not miss.”—Bookreporter.com

“Clever. . . . This is a killer debut, in every sense of the word!” —BookPage
“[An] assured fiction debut . . . Little effectively intersperses outside perspective in the form of emails, text messages, and other communications in Jane’s entertainingly caustic first-person narrative.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Janie keeps them all guessing . . . An unusual protagonist who will intrigue readers who favor strong, smart women.”
—Booklist
“A really gutsy, clever, energetic read, often unexpected, always entertaining. I loved Janie Jenkins’s sassy voice and Elizabeth Little’s too. In the world of crime novels, Dear Daughter is a breath of fresh air.”—Kate Atkinson, New York Times bestselling author of Life After Life

“Dear Daughter has three of my favorite things in a book: a smart, damaged, unstoppable narrator with a slicing sense of humor; needle-sharp writing that brings characters and atmosphere leaping off the page; and a vivid, original plot full of satisfying twists. This is an all-nighter, and the best debut mystery I've read in a long time.” —Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of Broken Harbor and In the Woods

“Clever, original, and darkly witty, Dear Daughter’s many twists will keep you on your toes as you fall under the spell of its unapologetic, whip-smart narrator.”—Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia

“What a devilish, delightful treat of a novel! Crackling with wit and shining with originality, Dear Daughter is the kind of whirlwind mystery that will keep you hooked—and guessing—until the very end.”—Sara Shepard, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars

From the Publisher

“A former It Girl hunts down her mom’s murderer in this can’t-put-down thriller.”—Cosmopolitan

“In prison for her mother’s murder, L.A. socialite Jane Jenkins is released on a technicality. To track down the real killer Jane gets plain, goes underground and stirs up dangerous amounts of dirt in her mom’s South Dakota hometown.”
—Good Housekeeping

“Little makes a thrilling debut with this gripping read. Fans of Tana French and Gillian Flynn are going to enjoy the smart narrator and the twists and turns in the case.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“Janie keeps them all guessing . . . An unusual protagonist who will intrigue readers who favor strong, smart women.”
—Booklist
“A really gutsy, clever, energetic read, often unexpected, always entertaining. I loved Janie Jenkins’s sassy voice and Elizabeth Little’s too. In the world of crime novels, Dear Daughter is a breath of fresh air.”—Kate Atkinson, New York Times bestselling author of Life After Life

“Dear Daughter has three of my favorite things in a book: a smart, damaged, unstoppable narrator with a slicing sense of humor; needle-sharp writing that brings characters and atmosphere leaping off the page; and a vivid, original plot full of satisfying twists. This is an all-nighter, and the best debut mystery I've read in a long time.” —Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of Broken Harbor and In the Woods

“Clever, original, and darkly witty, Dear Daughter’s many twists will keep you on your toes as you fall under the spell of its unapologetic, whip-smart narrator.”—Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia

“What a devilish, delightful treat of a novel! Crackling with wit and shining with originality, Dear Daughter is the kind of whirlwind mystery that will keep you hooked—and guessing—until the very end.”—Sara Shepard, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

06/02/2014
Jane Jenkins, the heroine of Little’s assured fiction debut, single-mindedly pursues one goal when she’s released from a California women’s prison. After serving 10 years of her sentence for the 2003 murder of her mother, socialite and philanthropist Marion Elsinger, she wants desperately to find out if she was indeed the culprit. Public opinion, led by the media and including crime blogger Trace Kessler, strongly leans toward belief in her guilt. Armed with a false persona, Jane disappears from the public eye and even her lawyer’s protection to follow the slimmest of leads into her secretive, tempestuous mother’s mysterious past in tiny, decaying Adeline, S.Dak., and its mirror community of Ardelle. Little (Trip of the Tongue: Cross-Country Travels in Search of America’s Languages) effectively intersperses outside perspective in the form of emails, text messages, and other communications in Jane’s entertainingly caustic first-person narrative (e.g., “Multi-tools are like insults, girls—you should always have one on hand”). Agent: Kate Garrick, DeFiore and Company. (Aug.)

all

“Dear Daughter has three of my favorite things in a book: a smart, damaged, unstoppable narrator with a slicing sense of humor; needle-sharp writing that brings characters and atmosphere leaping off the page; and a vivid, original plot full of satisfying twists. This is an all-nighter, and the best debut mystery I've read in a long time.”—Tana French

From the Publisher

“When former It Girl Janie Jenkins is released from prison, she embarks on a mission to discover if it was really she who murdered her mother. The debut novel’s twists will easily hook you, but it’s the narrator’s dark wit and sharp observations that make this a truly fun read.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“Little keeps you guessing until the end — and then closes her book with a final, twisted flourish.”
—Daneet Steffens, The Boston Globe

“Engrossing. . . The unlikable protagonist with a biting personality and outrageous actions, but who is fascinating at the same time, has never been more popular. Just think of Gone Girl. In her confident fiction debut, Elizabeth Little puts a fresh spin on this character in the form of Jane Jenkins, a young woman famous for being famous until she was sent to prison for the murder of her wealthy socialite mother. Little also makes Dear Daughter a parable about the cult of the celebrity stoked by a relentless press and a ruthless public’s thirst for details of a woman it loves to hate.”
—Associated Press

“This is not your mother’s mystery. The clever, prickly and profane heroine is, after all, a former It Girl whose aim as a teen was to be the next Paris Hilton, only better. . . . Sassy and lively. . . . The book’s satisfying conclusion somehow manages to tie things up while also providing a cliffhanger, a pretty neat trick for a debut novel.”
—Colleen Kelly, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

“The best debut crime novel of 2014, a spiky, voicey, jolting, surprising story of a celebutante convicted of murdering her mother . . . Little also produces one of the best endings of 2014, too.” —Sarah Weinman, The National Post (Canada)

“A former It Girl hunts down her mom’s murderer in this can’t-put-down thriller.”
— Cosmopolitan

“Do you want a mystery novel that you can stay up all night reading and then take to the beach to finish it off the next day? Elizabeth Little’s Dear Daughter is pretty much all you need: the tale of a former high society girl who gets out of prison and goes on a mission to find out who really killed her mother.”
— Flavorwire (Must-Read Books for August)

“In prison for her mother’s murder, L.A. socialite Jane Jenkins is released on a technicality. To track down the real killer Jane gets plain, goes underground and stirs up dangerous amounts of dirt in her mom’s South Dakota hometown.”
— Good Housekeeping

“[A] fun and riveting debut mystery.”
— The San Diego Union Tribune

“Part celebrity, part sleuth and all sass, the memorable Janie Jenkins is out to prove she didn't murder her mother in this smart debut thriller. . . . Little drives Dear Daughter with the string of surprises and buried secrets revealed as Janie unravels the mystery of her mother's past. It is a thriller much like Gillian Flynn's blockbuster Gone Girl—except instead of the East Coast literary angst of Flynn's protagonists stuck in Missouri, Little's Midwest visitor really does have L.A. ‘glitter in her veins.’”
— Shelf Awareness

“Little makes a thrilling debut with this gripping read. Fans of Tana French and Gillian Flynn are going to enjoy the smart narrator and the twists and turns in the case.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“Stunning and chilling. . . . A harrowing story that will keep readers on the edge of their seat. The ending is like a punch in the nose, coming out of nowhere and leaving readers breathless. Whether you take this mystery to the beach or relax in front of your air conditioner, this is a novel you should not miss.”—Bookreporter.com

“Clever. . . . This is a killer debut, in every sense of the word!” —BookPage

“Dear Daughter has three of my favorite things in a book: a smart, damaged, unstoppable narrator with a slicing sense of humor; needle-sharp writing that brings characters and atmosphere leaping off the page; and a vivid, original plot full of satisfying twists. This is an all-nighter, and the best debut mystery I've read in a long time.”

—Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of Broken Harbor and In the Woods

“Clever, original, and darkly witty, Dear Daughter’s many twists will keep you on your toes as you fall under the spell of its unapologetic, whip-smart narrator.”
—Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia

“What a devilish, delightful treat of a novel! Crackling with wit and shining with originality, Dear Daughter is the kind of whirlwind mystery that will keep you hooked—and guessing—until the very end.”
—Sara Shepard, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars

Kirkus Reviews

2014-06-19
Agatha Christie meets Kim Kardashian in this sharp-edged, tart-tongued, escapist thriller.Author of two nonfiction books (Trip of the Tongue, 2012, etc.), Little makes her fiction debut with a stylishly written tale that plays off our culture's obsession with celebrity scandal. “Janie Jenkins, the infamous Hollywood celebutante,” was known for her notoriety rather than for anything she ever did, until she was convicted of murdering her mother. From the preponderance of circumstantial evidence, it seems plain that she did it—or that she was framed. And though she had motive enough—there was little love lost between the two—her memories of that evening (like many evenings) are so hazy that she really isn’t sure whether she did it or not. Now, after 10 years in jail, Janie is freed on a convenient technicality, and she embarks on a secret mission to discover the truth—about her mother, about herself—while celebrity journalists and a particularly zealous blogger try to figure out where she's gone. Says Janie: “It's hard to maintain your innocence when so many people are so sure you're not. It’s impossible when you’re not sure of anything at all—other than the awful, inescapable fact that you hadn’t particularly liked your own mother.” Her quest leads her (somewhat implausibly) to a town in South Dakota where five families have a long lineage from the days of gold fever. Amid this close-knit community, which is “like a Thanksgiving dinner that never ends,” Janie tries to discover who her mother really was, who her father really was, who she really is, and what her lawyer knows that she doesn’t. The town is like one of Christie’s closed rooms—someone who lives there holds the key to all the secrets, and that person may well be her mother’s murderer. Unless Janie is.This is breezy reading: nothing too deep or disturbing, and stronger on style than plot.

Library Journal

★ 06/15/2014
Janie Jenkins was a rich pain in the neck who lived in L.A. and had it all—until the night when she was arrested and then sentenced to prison for ten years for killing her mother. Now she is out on a technicality with people still calling for her blood. Especially a blogger known as Trace, who writes passionate screeds about why Janie should be put back in prison. Once out, Janie is determined to track down who really killed her mother as she is convinced she is innocent. Her journey takes her to a small South Dakota town where she meets quite the cast of characters in the local residents. VERDICT Little makes a thrilling debut with this gripping read. Fans of Tana French and Gillian Flynn are going to enjoy the smart narrator and the twists and turns in the case. [See Prepub Alert, 2/10/14.]—Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH

Read an Excerpt

As soon as they processed my release, Noah and I hit the ground running. A change of clothes. A wig. An inconspicuous sedan. We doubled back once, twice, then drove south when we were headed east. In San Francisco we had a girl who looked like me board a plane to Hawaii.

Oh, I thought I was so clever.

But you probably already know that I’m not.

I mean, come on, you didn’t really think I was just going to disappear, did you? That I would skulk off and live in the shadows? That maybe I would find a distant island, a plastic surgeon, a white ceramic half mask and a Punjab lasso? Get real.

But I never meant for it to come to this. There’s attention and then there’s attention, and sure, the latter gets you fame and money and free designer shoes, but I’m not Lindsay Lohan. I understand the concept of declining marginal returns. It was the not knowing—that’s what I couldn’t stand. That’s why I’m here.

Did you know that the more you remember, the more you expand your perception of personal time? No, really. There’s, like, studies and shit. Even though we can’t outrun death, if we muscle up our memories the race, at least, will seem a little longer. That is, we’ll still die, but we’ll have lived more. Kind of comforting, right?

Unless, of course, you’re me.

Imagine how it would feel if, out of the blue, someone were to hand you a gold medal and tell you it was yours. Oh my god, you’d think. I am so super awesome! I won the Olympics. But, wait-what did I win? When did I win it? When did I train? Shouldn't my biceps be full-on Madonna? How could I possibly forget the defining moment of my life?

And what does it mean that I did?

Now imagine that instead of a gold medal you were given a murder conviction, and you'll have some sense of how it is for me.

When I think back on the night my mother died, it's like trying to adjust a pair of rabbit ears to pick up a distant broadcast signal. Every so often something comes into focus, but mostly I just get the scrape­ sound of static, an impenetrable wall of snow. Sometimes there isn't even a picture. Sometimes there isn't even a TV. Maybe if I'd had a moment to stop and think that morning I might've had the chance to imprint a useful detail or two, but the police hustled me out of the house and into a cruiser and over to the station before I could even think to worry about what I was wearing, much less what I might have done. By lunchtime I was in an interview room picking dried blood out from under my fingernails while two detectives explained what they wanted me to write in my confession.

Not that I blame them. I was always going to be the best story. Next was the trial, which didn't have anything to do with what I knew but rather with what other people had decided I knew, and soon enough I lost the ability to tell the difference between them. And now I 'm stuck with a mess of a memory, a hodgepodge of angry testimony, sanctimonious magazine profiles, made-for-TV movies-less linear narrative than True Hollywood Story highlight reel. I don't know what's mine anymore.

And then there's the evidence. The only fingerprints in my mother 's room: mine. The only DNA under my mother's nails: probably mine. The only name written in blood next to my mother's body: definitely mine.

(That's right. You probably didn't know that part, did you?)

It 's hard enough to maintain your innocence when so many people are so sure you're not. It 's impossible when you're not sure of anything at all-other than the awful, inescapable fact that you hadn't particu­ larly liked your own mother.

The uncertainty ate at me, maggots mashing the already-decaying corpse of my brain. And in jail, isolated from any real means of investigation, all I could do was wonder. I began to treat every action of every day like an omen, a crystal ball, a goat's intestines. How would a killer brush her teeth? How would a killer brush her hair? Would she take sugar in her coffee? Milk in her tea? Would she knot her shoelaces once? Twice?

Totally kidding. Like they would have given me shoelaces.

Of all the challenges of incarceration, this was perhaps the worst: I was a fundamentally rational creature reduced to rudimentary divination. I promised myself that if I ever got out I'd try to find out what really happened, to find out what I really was.

I ignored the voice that said killing again was the only way I'd ever know for sure.

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Horrible!!

This book was compared to the likes of Gilliam Flynn, which couldnt be farther from the truth. She did try to put a plot twist in at the very end which failed miserably. The whole book moved incredibly slow until the last twenty pages or so... Save your time and money with this one folks, it is not worth it!!

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted August 20, 2014

I did not like this book. It didn't hold my interest and it won

I did not like this book. It didn't hold my interest and it wondered around too much without significance. However, I did not care for Gone Girl either but would have rated it little higher than Dear aughter

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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RobertDowns

Posted August 14, 2014

When you slack off for a few days and seek praise in your own wr

When you slack off for a few days and seek praise in your own writing, bad things tend to happen. With me, my memory went to crap on a cracker. So (like Will Ferrell in Old School during the great debate) let me regurgitate DEAR DAUGHTER in a stream of consciousness before I’m even more screwed than I already am.

Janie Jenkins decided to take everything she had discovered over the course of her life—before she ended up in the pokey—and leave it on the side of the road. Her clothes, hair, name, and confidence…broken like a baseball bat. Her ability to mess around until the sun goes down with a semi-famous rock star. Gone. She may have been tabloid fodder with her feet firmly planted in an alternate reality, even as her mom tried to pull the minivan out of the driveway. But she had more than enough intelligence to jam a crucifix in that plan, and stay in the course in that multi-horse town.

With her eyes downcast, and nothing to go on but a place and a date, she seeks justice for a crime she didn’t commit, even if she can’t get those ten years of her life back. But she’s bound and determined to even the score. Her character reminded me of a stray cat that had been kicked a little too much, and missed more meals than she received. Her mom couldn’t have offered a better plug for contraceptives, although she didn’t end up being a total loss.

All the small town and South Dakota atmosphere needed was a six shooter, black hat, cloud of dust, and some western theme music. Yeah, the town nearly became a character in the story, and I reminisced about my brief stint in Rapid City, where the land was flat and the trees were sparse.

The plot nudged along, until Elizabeth Little revved the engine and it took off near the end like a turbocharged Harley, and I nearly fell off and struck the pavement. Other than whiplash and a near brush with asphalt, I managed to keep my butt in my seat. I didn’t even need to dust myself off.

With that being said, I didn’t like the end. It felt like I put my head through a glass door. Otherwise, though, I was good to go. If I pick up another Elizabeth Little novel, I’ll just make sure I walk with my hand in front of my face.

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JennMcLean

Posted August 3, 2014

"Dear Daughter" is Elizabeth Little's debut novel and

&quot;Dear Daughter&quot; is Elizabeth Little's debut novel and it captures you from the first page. We start out right away learning that Jane Jenkins was accused and convicted of her mother's brutal murder ten years ago. Two interesting twists happen right away. One, Janie doesn't remember if she actually did kill her mother, she has little to no memory of that horrible night. Two, her conviction is overturned when the lab that did the DNA testing is found to have mishandled evidence. Sharp, vivid writing flows from Elizabeth Little's pen. She shapes a multidimensional, emotionally fragile yet contradictorily tough as nails character in Jane Jenkins.

Jane, or Janie as the paparazzi like to call her, was at the height of her celebutaunt fame when her very wealthy mother was murdered. Jane's notoriety made her fodder for every scandalous rag and ambulance chasing lawyer throughout the trial. When her conviction is over turned and Janie is released there is a rabid hunt to find out where she is and what she'd doing now. Jane becomes unsafe wherever she goes.

The main character is crafted beautifully by Elizabeth Little. Jane is intelligent, sly, manipulative, beautiful and condescending. But strangely, as the book continues, you begin to like her. The reader is drawn into the mystery of who Jane really is and who really murdered her mother. As Jane follows the tiniest clues to find answers and tries to winnow out the truth from people who want to keep their secrets, we find ourselves rooting for the underdog, Jane. She may have a sharp tongue and a smart mouth but as you learn of her upbringing you, find yourself unsurprised at her behavior.

I found myself mesmerized by this novel. For me, it was like a palate cleansing between courses in an expensive meal. I usually read a certain kind of mystery, the grizzly P.I., the frustrated yet tenacious cop, the befuddled but determined amateur sleuth. This mystery was nothing like that. The author's writing style is so wonderfully digestible. The character Jane Jenkins is fully explored and beautifully robust. It was a singular pleasure to read such a well wrought mystery with unexpected twists and turns, fully developed side characters and enough red herrings thrown in to keep even the most sophisticated mystery reader on their toes. This book was a five out of five for me, in fact, especially since it's Elizabeth Little's first novel, I think it deserves more than the maximum stars, it deserves a whole constellation.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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A Razor Sharp Debut Thriller!

A special thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Viking and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DEAR DAUGHTER, by Elizabeth Little, is a razor sharp debut thriller which will keep you on edge until the surprise ending!

Janie (a Paris Hilton / Kim Kardashian type celebrity) is out of prison after serving ten years, for the murder of her mother, a philanthropist. With circumstantial evidence, it appears she did it, or was framed. Her memories of the said evening which changed her life and fueled her for revenge, are not very clear; however, she cannot rest until she finds the real killer.

There is much publicity surrounding the case, and of course crazy stalker bloggers, and celebrity journalists, so Janie has to go undercover to find answers. Her leads take her to a mining town in South Dakota, where Janie tries to find out more about her mother’s past, her father, herself, and then there is the lawyer, Noah.

Someone holds the key to all the secrets and she is determined to find answers about the night her mother was killed. Jane knows she and her mother have never been close; however she cannot help but recall the quarrel prior to her death between her mother and someone.

A complex and gripping story with tight and precise writing, and a not so likable smart mouth sarcastic main character Jane, which has traveled everywhere and gained notoriety through her family connections.

It was fun seeing the transition of personalities from the real Jane to the one which is undercover, obsessed with finding clues leading to that night.

Where nothing is as it seems, Little takes you on twists, turns, filled with humor for a clever and dramatic faced-paced mystery with family dynamics of mother-daughter plus more—alternating between the current present quest, and memories and events leading to the night her mother was murdered and of course, all the media surrounding the case.

I am not a huge fan of celebrities, reality TV, and the gossip and glam which go along with the role; however, hoping for a sequel, as feel the ending lends itself for another interesting saga!

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted December 7, 2014

Ashfire

Hai

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted August 28, 2014

Not the best

I know the reviews are good and I would agree on some points, but I wish I wouldn't have bothered with this book. Very disjointed aand odd, especiallly the last few chapters.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted August 11, 2014

Horrible ending

What a good book to end so badly. Whats wrong with this author? Your mom should be worried.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted August 10, 2014

Wow

Great book. I read all the time and latley have been disillusioned,not with dear daughter tho. Finally a book that has substance. Author can only get better,and shes great already.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted February 8, 2015

Poorly written and far-fetched at best...

Such poor writing. And the plot is so paper thin and juvenile. Disappointment City - save your money.

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Anonymous

Posted February 6, 2015

Dear Kitten rp

Welcome to the Dear Kitten rp! First: info <br> If you haven't seen dear kitten, press the little [ X ] in the corner and get on yout<_>ube. Look up 'dear kitten'. Watch any one. <p> Characters: every house can have parents, one kitten, one cat, one dog (pupp&eacute<_>, as cats say), and up to four children. <p> Houses: go to any house that is unocupied and go ahead and start your household! Every household must start with a human. <p> De<_>aths: your human will live forever. This is not a war/fantasy rp, so nothing is out to ki<_>ll them. If you join as an adult cat, you must write down when you joined in your bio. Your cat di<_>es on that exact day next year, and the household kitten updates their bio to adult. You write down the exact day you officially expanded from kitten. If your cat disapears, you become cat. <p> Clans: clan cats can visit our households, since we are technically in warrior terms 'kittypets'. <p> Bios: at res2. Post what household you belong to (res3 (Alice Stevek's) is Cherry, res4 is Lion). If you are a human, post your wife/husband and your pets. Kittens post their cat, cats post their kitten. <p> Dogs/pupp&eacute<_>s: be a dog. Dumb, but fun. <p> Joining households: you can fall in love, but they need their own house before anything. If you get married, you choose which house you will live in and both kittens/cats will live there. You can also move in with freinds. <p> Store: if you are a cat and you fall in love, you simply visit them frequently. If you have kittens, go to 'kitty' and post ads for rper and the kittens. The owner can only keep ONE kitten, and a household can only have up to three felines, and at least one must be an adult. Humans and rpers will post at 'kitty' if they want to buy a kitten or rp it. Every ad MUST HAVE THE NAME OF THE HOUSEHOLD'S BOOK AND THE NAME OF THE OWNER OF THE KITTENS. Cats cannot decide who gets to buy which kittens, but they do decide the rpers. If you want to buy a kitten, go to the house and ask the owner. Only humans can sell or buy kittens. I will post when cat food bags, litter bags, cat food dishes, soap, dog food bags, dog food dishes, dog houses, kennels, clothes, pet clothes, furniture, cages, leashes, catnip, cat treats, dog treats, human stuff, or callors are available in the sto<_>re. You can only bu<_>y up to $<_>100 worth of stuff every day or you will go broke (and not be allowed to b<_>u<_>y anything). I am the sh<_>op supervisor and i am the only one allowed to say if a person gets something. Remember, EVERYTHING in the shop must have a pri<_>ce. <p> Feeding: each cat must be fed at least once a week. If not, then the cat will automatically go to the store ('kitty'). <p> Health meter: the amount of stars on a post acounts for health. If you are a human larva (baby/toddler), it is health. If you are a cat, it is hunger. At two stars, you become extremely weak. Human larvas need milk, fun, love, sleep, and cleaning. Cats need food, clean litterbox love, sleep, attention, and freinds that can talk to them (other pets). Kittens need learning, food, clean litterbox, attention, fun, and their shots. Pupp&eacute<_>s need attention, food, outside time, cleaning, and their shots. Humans need food, company (counts as pets and people), clothes, and cleaning. <p> Tips: never say pri<_>ce. It is a lockout word. Always say pri < _ > ce (no spaces). To say pupp&eacute<_>, type EXACTLY the following: pupp&<_>eacute<_>.

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Anonymous

Posted January 3, 2015

I picked up this book because a few reviews compared it to the l

I picked up this book because a few reviews compared it to the likes of Gillian Flynn's material, and as I loved &quot;Gone Girl,&quot; I decided to give it a shot. After reading the book, I wouldn't go so far as to say that the author is similar to Gillian Flynn. The writing in &quot;Gone Girl,&quot; for example, seemed a lot more streamlined and made a little bit more sense. With &quot;Dear Daughter,&quot; the story went all over the place with flashbacks and things at the beginning of each chapter that I often had difficulty keeping up not only with the plot, but the assorted array of characters that were introduced, all of whom seemed very one dimensional. I guess the only comparison I can make between it and &quot;Gone Girl,&quot; is that I also didn't much like the ending. The &quot;Dear Daughter&quot; ending seemed very rushed and the revelation of the killer seemed to come out of nowhere due to last minute plot twists. Furthermore, the ending just came to a sudden halt after the action was over. I invested so much time into these characters (however one-dimensional they may have been), and I would like to have received a little bit of follow-up toward the end about what happened to all of them and their relationship to the main character after the truth is discovered. However, the author just allows for the big reveal at the end and just leaves it at that with no follow through afterwards. I think that's what I disliked the most about the book. Overall, I think the book might be nice as a quick summer read. It's only 300 some odd pages, so it wouldn't take a person long to finish. And the chapters are pretty concise and get to the point without slogging on for pages and pages, which I always like. It's a decent read, but not the best, in my opinion.

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Anonymous

Posted October 26, 2014

Good concept that was lost in execution

What started off as an interesting idea for a mystery, got lost along the way. The main character's frequent references to luxury items comes off as very researched and forced. The male characters were so thinly developed that I had trouble keeping the names straight. The ending of the novel felt rushed and unfinished.

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Janie Jenkins was the latest LA It Girl to fall from the glitter

Janie Jenkins was the latest LA It Girl to fall from the glittering heights when she was convicted of murdering her mother. Ten years later, she’s released on a technicality from when her trial was held. Now she’s on the trail which was started from her mother’s last words and which Janie hopes will lead her to the truth. Because she didn’t kill her mother, did she? DEAR DAUGHTER is written through prose, articles, and blog posts. Janie’s voice is spot-on and it was interesting to see her character grow while uncovering her mother’s past, yet maintaining her snarkiness and own brand of self. Especially with as hungry as the populace seems to be for hints of fame and the rollercoaster ride lives of celebrities and so-called celebrities, DEAR DAUGHTER fits right into this culture. There is a secondary world Jane enters – Ardelle and Adeline, South Dakota. These small-towns and the seemingly small-minded people who populate them just may hold the secrets Janie needs to discover who her mother truly was before and how she became the woman Janie knew. DEAR DAUGHTER will definitely appeal to readers who like Gillian Flynn or Marisha Pessl.

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Anonymous

Posted October 19, 2014

Unlikable characters and poor plot!

Unlikable characters and poor plot!

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I won't lie, I had a hard time even finishing this book. The onl

I won't lie, I had a hard time even finishing this book. The only reason I pushed through was because of all the social media hype I have seen surrounding it so I felt I had to give it my best effort.

In fact, I am having a hard time writing a review for this one. It is not terrible by any means. There just wasn't much to like in this book. I would compare this very much to a Chuck Palahniuk novel, so if you can tolerate his writing, then this may be for you.

There is so much superfluous information and references here that it makes this story very tough to get immersed in.

There is some interesting plot points with the identical towns and a few subtleties of the murder itself. However, the main character is so unlikable that it is impossible to empathise. Now, I realise that is part of the technique but it just didn't work for me. Her actions aren't consistent one way or the other.

There are other characters and story arcs that just don't make any sense.

I will admit to something else also. Even though I finished this book, I couldn't tell you how it actually resolved. I was that unfocused on this story. I spent most of the last section of this one watching the 'time left in book' counter at the bottom of my Kindle.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted October 6, 2014

Hey People magazine....

Why would readers who enjoyed Gone Girl be a fan of this book? There is no correlation between the two whatsoever. It pisses me off; a fantastic book comes out, gets optioned (into a really crappy movie that did the book no justice, & put Ben Affleck in the leading role...yuck!) & now EVERY damn book needs to be compared to any Gillian Flynn novel. I was reading her articles in Entertainment Weekly years ago. I remember her send off when she left to write these kick ass books, & I have only one question; who in the HELL cast Ben Affleck in Gone Girl? I certainly was not picturing that guy when I read it. I have my own visuals, but Ryan Reynolds, or Sebastian Stan, Jared Padalecki, even a Hemsworth brother, someone under 35. Not Affleck, he's bordering 65.... in Hollywood years. They may as well had cast Sean "don't jusht schit there" Connery.

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Anonymous

Posted September 20, 2014

Lorrie

About 1/2 thru, good read, tho totally unrealistic

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Anonymous

Posted September 11, 2014

Whats up

This book is not selling for under 1 .99,,,,,,,,,,,,11.00 should not be in this category in the first place......B&N SHAME ON YOU? trickery.....

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Anonymous

Posted September 5, 2014

a good read!

This book was funnier than expected as the main character has a snarky sense of humor. That was an interesting surprise and made the subject--death of mother--much less daunting. I did enjoy reading this and would recommend it; however, if you are seeking a tightly-wound who-dun-it, this isn't the book for you. It would be a fun series as a light romp through dysfunction!

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